Ryan International School Case: Juvenile Justice Board Directs 16Yr Old Accused To Be Tried As An Adult

The Juvenile Justice Board (JJB), on Wednesday, ruled that the 16-year old teenager accused of killing seven-year-old Pradyuman Thakur at Ryan International School will be tried as an adult.

Delivering the verdict, Principal Magistrate Davender Singh reportedly opined that the offence was "heinous" and that circumstances showed that the teenager was “mature enough” to understand the consequences of his alleged act.

The JJB relied on the reports submitted by clinical psychologist, Dr. Jogender Singh Kairo and legal-cum-probation officer from the district child protection unit, Gurgaon, Ms. Nisha Saini. As per Advocate Sushil Tekriwal, who is representing Pradyuman's father, the report suggested that the accused was “hyper- aggressive” and that he should be treated as an adult.

The JJB, however, clarified that if convicted, he will stay in a correctional home till he is 21 years old and will then be transferred to a jail for the remainder of his sentence. The accused will be lodged at the observation home in Faridabad during the trial, unless he gets bail.

The teenager is expected to be produced before Gurgaon's Sessions Court at its next hearing on December 22.

The class 11 student is accused of slitting Pradyuman Thakur's throat in the school toilet on September 8. While the Gurgaon Police had claimed that the crime had been committed by a bus conductor, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had refuted the assertion and had nabbed the juvenile. The CBI had claimed that the teenager had killed Pradyuman in a bid to get the school closed so that a scheduled parent- teachers meeting and an examination could be deferred.